FNTN.DE - freenet AG
| Previous Close | 20.56 |
| Open | 20.55 |
| Bid | 20.58 x 27300 |
| Ask | 20.59 x 41000 |
| Day's Range | 20.55 - 20.58 |
| 52 Week Range | 16.11 - 21.64 |
| Volume | 338,539 |
| Avg. Volume | 507,929 |
| Market Cap | 2.637B |
| Beta (3Y Monthly) | 1.04 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 10.84 |
| EPS (TTM) | 1.90 |
| Earnings Date | Nov 7, 2019 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | 1.65 (8.03%) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | 2019-05-17 |
| 1y Target Est | N/A |
- Thomson Reuters StreetEvents
Edited Transcript of FNTN.DE earnings conference call or presentation 7-Nov-19 10:00am GMT
Q3 2019 freenet AG Earnings Call
- Simply Wall St.
Read This Before You Buy freenet AG (ETR:FNTN) Because Of Its P/E Ratio
This article is written for those who want to get better at using price to earnings ratios (P/E ratios). We'll show...
- Reuters
Sunrise counts cost of its failure to buy Liberty Global business
Sunrise Communications said on Wednesday it faces a hit of up to 125 million Swiss francs ($125 million) from its failed bid to buy Liberty Global's Swiss unit, as the U.S. cable company held out hopes a deal could be revived. Sunrise's costs from the failed 6.3 billion franc deal, halted after opposition from the Swiss telecommunication company's biggest shareholder, include a 50 million franc break-up fee to Liberty Global, as well as 19 million francs in underwriting fees and already-incurred integration costs of 24 million francs. Last month, Sunrise scrapped its takeover of Liberty's UPC Switzerland business when German firm Freenet, which holds 25% of the Swiss telecommunications group, balked on concerns the move was too expensive.
- Reuters
UPDATE 3-Sunrise counts cost of its failure to buy Liberty Global business
Sunrise Communications said on Wednesday it faces a hit of up to 125 million Swiss francs ($125 million) from its failed bid to buy Liberty Global's Swiss unit, as the U.S. cable company held out hopes a deal could be revived. Sunrise's costs from the failed 6.3 billion franc deal, halted after opposition from the Swiss telecommunication company's biggest shareholder, include a 50 million franc break-up fee to Liberty Global, as well as 19 million francs in underwriting fees and already-incurred integration costs of 24 million francs. Last month, Sunrise scrapped its takeover of Liberty's UPC Switzerland business when German firm Freenet, which holds 25% of the Swiss telecommunications group, balked on concerns the move was too expensive.
- Simply Wall St.
Why freenet AG (ETR:FNTN) Could Be Worth Watching
freenet AG (ETR:FNTN), which is in the wireless telecom business, and is based in Germany, received a lot of attention...
- Reuters
Investor revolt torpedoes Swiss Sunrise's $6.4 billion Liberty Global deal
Sunrise Communications Group bowed to investor pressure on Tuesday and scrapped its 6.3 billion Swiss franc (£4.9 billion) acquisition of Liberty Global's Swiss cable business UPC. The number two Swiss telecommunications group had battled to save the deal in the face of opposition from its biggest shareholder, Germany's Freenet , which holds 25% of its stock, and activist investors including Axxion and AOC. "This is a missed opportunity to promote competition in the Swiss market," said Sunrise Chief Executive Olaf Swantee, who had planned to bundle mobile, broadband, TV and fixed-line products to close the gap to market leader Swisscom .
- Reuters
UPDATE 6-Investor revolt torpedoes Swiss Sunrise's $6.4 bln Liberty Global deal
Sunrise Communications Group bowed to investor pressure on Tuesday and scrapped its 6.3 billion Swiss franc ($6.39 billion) acquisition of Liberty Global's Swiss cable business UPC. The number two Swiss telecommunications group had battled to save the deal in the face of opposition from its biggest shareholder, Germany's Freenet, which holds 25% of its stock, and activist investors including Axxion and AOC.
- Simply Wall St.
freenet AG (ETR:FNTN) Delivered A Better ROE Than Its Industry
Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is...
- Bloomberg
Did Cable Cowboy John Malone Just Blink in a Deal?
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Did John Malone just blink in an M&A deal? The cable tycoon’s Liberty Global Plc has just agreed to help finance Sunrise Communications Group AG’s 6.3 billion Swiss francs ($6.3 billion) purchase of Liberty’s business in Switzerland. It’s a neat way of lending a helping hand to a struggling buyer without being seen to soften the terms of the deal itself. It still may not be enough to get the transaction done.Sunrise’s purchase of Malone’s UPC Switzerland has been on the ropes for months. The Swiss buyer’s biggest shareholder, German telecoms operator Freenet AG, and a couple of investment funds are opposed. Sunrise needs to do a 2.8 billion Swiss franc rights offer to pay for the deal, which in turn depends on majority shareholder support. Freenet’s opposition is unhelpful enough given its 25% stake. Last week, the shareholder advisory service ISS also recommended that investors withhold their support.That has rattled Liberty. Malone’s group now says it will put as much as 500 million Swiss francs into the rights offer if Sunrise’s own investors (most likely Freenet) don't stump up. This could be seen as a vote of confidence in the enlarged Sunrise from the American billionaire, which might make shareholders feel more comfortable about voting in favor of the fundraising. But the move could be seen equally as the price Liberty is willing to pay to get a deal over the line without amending the headline terms, for example by cutting the price or taking stock instead of cash.This deal isn’t cheap but it makes sense for Sunrise. The buyer reckons UPC is worth 5.1 billion Swiss francs on a standalone basis, and it values the cost savings and revenue gains of a deal at some 3.1 billion francs. That total value is worth nearly 2 billion francs more than the price being paid.Sure, UPC is probably worth less than Sunrise reckons. The same goes for those savings. Say UPC is more plausibly worth about 4.6 billion euros, based on it maybe making 600 million francs of Ebitda this year and commanding a multiple just shy of where Sunrise trades. And say you cut those anticipated savings by 25% and they’re worth 2.3 billion francs. On this view, the total value to Sunrise shareholders would still exceed the price paid, plus they would keep all the upside if the financial benefits of a deal turned out better than hoped.Sunrise shareholders could kill the deal in the hope of striking a better transaction with Liberty at a later date — maybe involving less cash, more stock and a cheaper price. After all, it’s now clear that Malone is fine with taking Sunrise shares. But Liberty is flush with cash at present from selling assets to Vodafone Group Plc. It can afford to spend some of that in defense of its interests. There's a big leap from that to believing Malone should, let alone will, swallow worse terms another day.To contact the author of this story: Chris Hughes at chughes89@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. He previously worked for Reuters Breakingviews, as well as the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
Freenet still rejects Sunrise deal despite Liberty Global offer
Freenet still opposes Sunrise's 6.3 billion Swiss franc ($6.32 billion) deal to buy Liberty Global's Swiss business, despite a new offer from the American seller to take part in the acquisition. Liberty Global, set up by U.S. cable pioneer John Malone, said on Monday it has offered to buy up to 500 million Swiss francs in newly created Sunrise shares to help finance the purchase.
- Reuters
UPDATE 1-Proxy ISS recommends to reject rights issue for Sunrise's UPC deal - sources
Proxy adviser ISS has recommended that shareholders vote against a rights issue Sunrise Communications will propose to finance its planned 6.3 billion Swiss franc ($6.35 billion) takeover of cable operator UPC from Liberty Global, a report sent to clients on Thursday showed. Opposition to the deal has steadily gained traction with at least 30% of Sunrise votes, including German group Freenet , set to reject a 2.8 billion Swiss francs equity issue at an extraordinary shareholder meeting on Oct. 23.
- Reuters
At least 30% of Sunrise votes oppose rights issue for UPC deal -investors
Sunrise Communications' planned 6.3 billion Swiss franc ($6.30 billion) takeover of cable operator UPC from Liberty Global is going down to the wire, with several investors set to oppose the deal despite a revamped rights issue, they told Reuters. A Reuters survey of shareholders showed owners of at least 30% of the voting rights would vote against the rights issue. Given that turnout at shareholder meetings is typically well below 100%, opponents of the rights issue hope to block the deal with less than half of the voting rights.
- Simply Wall St.
The freenet (ETR:FNTN) Share Price Is Down 27% So Some Shareholders Are Getting Worried
As an investor its worth striving to ensure your overall portfolio beats the market average. But in any portfolio...
- Reuters
Sunrise investor AOC opposes UPC takeover despite reduced rights issue
Sunrise investor AOC joined Germany's Freenet in fighting the Swiss telecoms group's 6.3 billion Swiss franc ($6.33 billion) takeover of Liberty Global Swiss UPC assets, saying a proposal to reduce a rights issue was insufficient to change its mind. "AOC is sticking to its previous position and rejects the deal, even with its new financing structure," the activist investor with less than a 3% Sunrise stake said in a statement.
- Bloomberg
John Malone's Swiss Poker Game Is 'Do or Die'
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- One of Europe’s most ambitious deals in recent years is in jeopardy. The Zurich-based telecoms operator Sunrise Communications Group AG is straining every sinew to keep its 6.3 billion Swiss francs ($6.3 billion) bid for U.S. billionaire John Malone’s UPC Switzerland alive amid stubborn opposition from its own top shareholder. This is becoming a make-or-break situation for Sunrise’s management.The logic of the jumbo deal is to created a “converged” company with services spanning conventional and mobile telephony, cable television and broadband. But Sunrise cannot do it without raising funds from its shareholders via a rights offer. That requires a majority vote, which puts investors in control. The cash call was meant to be 4.1 billion francs, more than Sunrise’s market capitalization. Freenet AG, the German telco with a 25% stake in Sunrise, said it wouldn’t back such a large fund-raising (in part, because it couldn’t afford to subscribe for its 1 billion francs portion of the share sale). Its opposition has forced Sunrise to rethink the size of the rights offer.Monday brought new terms for financing the UPC deal. Debt will replace 1.3 billion francs of the initial equity component. In spite of the increased leverage, the deal’s overall financing costs have fallen because Sunrise is expanding an existing cheap borrowing facility. What’s more, a reduction in the number of new shares issued will make the cash flow generated from the combination look better on a per-share basis. And Sunrise says its dividend payout will rise proportionately with the value of the enlarged company.How has it achieved the seemingly impossible by reworking this transaction? Sunrise’s answer is that the merged company will be able to sustain more debt than first envisaged because UPC’s performance has improved, and there are more expected savings from the deal.But Sunrise shareholders should be under no illusions. This deal now carries substantially more financial risk. The combined net debt of the two companies is equivalent to a lofty 4.2 times their trailing Ebitda on June 30. Sunrise says this should fall below 3 times in the medium term as savings flow through. Still, there's no margin for error.No one will ever believe you’re a winner when you agree a transaction with an experienced cable industry deal-maker like Malone. A simultaneous cut in the deal price might therefore have helped win over the naysayers. Sunrise values UPC at 5.1 billion francs on a standalone basis, and puts the value creation from the deal at 3.1 billion francs. That does indeed look optimistic. But Malone was never going to agree to a price cut. The situation is now equally about the future of Sunrise’s chief executive officer Olaf Swantee. He has doggedly pursued his convergence strategy. Even though Freenet has a big stake, it cannot kill the takeover on its own. The German refusenik has some backing. But support from two-thirds of the rest of the shareholder register would still let Swantee get his deal. If he can’t persuade them of his vision, it’s questionable why shareholders would want him as CEO and why he’d want to stay.To contact the author of this story: Chris Hughes at chughes89@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: James Boxell at jboxell@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Chris Hughes is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering deals. He previously worked for Reuters Breakingviews, as well as the Financial Times and the Independent newspaper.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinion©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Reuters
UPDATE 3-Sunrise's UPC takeover fight grinds on as Freenet spurns concession
Sunrise Communications slashed the size of a rights offer but this failed to secure the support of a major shareholder for its 6.3 billion Swiss franc ($6.35 billion) purchase of Liberty Global's Swiss UPC unit. Germany's Freenet, which owns 25% of the Swiss telecoms group, pledged on Monday to keep up its fight against the transaction, despite Sunrise's move to cut its planned rights issue to 2.8 billion francs from 4.1 billion previously.
- Reuters
Sunrise cuts rights issue to 2.8 bln Sfr in push to buy Liberty Global's UPC
Sunrise Communications is cutting its proposed rights issue to 2.8 billion Swiss francs ($2.83 billion) from 4.1 billion francs to pay for its acquisition of Liberty Global's Swiss unit UPC as it seeks to convince shareholders to back the deal. Sunrise announced the changes on Monday amid fierce opposition by Germany's Freenet, which owns about a quarter of the Swiss company and has sought to rally other foes ahead of a planned Oct. 23 extraordinary shareholders meeting.
- Reuters
UPDATE 1-Sunrise could slash size of rights issue to fund UPC deal - sources
Sunrise Communications could slash the size of its planned 4.1 billion Swiss franc ($4.13 billion) rights issue to finance its purchase of Liberty Global's Swiss UPC business, four people close to the situation told Reuters. The Swiss group has been discussing with investors how it could reduce the amount of new equity it would issue to fund the 6.3 billion franc deal, thus breaking down resistance to the transaction by its biggest shareholder, Freenet. The preferred version would reduce the equity part to around 3 billion francs or even less, the people said.
- Reuters
Freenet has no quick plans to sell Sunrise shares - CEO
Germany's Freenet does not intend to sell its shares in Sunrise Communications soon no matter what happens with the capital increase Sunrise plans to fund its 6.3 billion Swiss franc ($6.35 billion) purchase of Liberty Global's Swiss UPC business, Freenet's chief executive said. "We are not considering at all getting out," Christoph Vilanek told Reuters on Friday. Freenet is Sunrise's biggest shareholder with a stake of 24.5%, and opposes the UPC deal as overpriced and disadvantageous to existing shareholders.
- Reuters
UPDATE 1-Sunrise plan to buy Liberty Global's UPC gets anti-trust green light
The Swiss anti-trust authority has approved Sunrise Communications' 6.3 billion Swiss franc ($6.36 billion) takeover of Liberty Global's UPC business, setting up a showdown between the telecoms company and foes of the deal. Sunrise -- locked in a feud with its largest investor, Germany's Freenet, which opposes the deal -- now plans an extraordinary shareholders meeting on Oct. 23 to vote on a capital increase needed to fund the takeover. Freenet, which owns a quarter of Sunrise, has been joined by some other investors in fighting the transaction on grounds the price is too high, a proposed 4.1 billion franc capital increase would dilute their holdings and the Swiss company would wind up with all the risks while allowing Liberty Global a lucrative and unfettered exit.
